Zutara Week 2012
by Alana5213
Summary: Katara lost her memory, Azula found her, and hid her as Mai's servant. Zuko finds her and has to decide between loyalty to who she once was or to his nation. The prologue is the episode "The Crossroads of Destiny" modified to fit my story and the chapters follow the Zutara Week 2012 Themes: Serendipity, Momentuous, Transcend, Whimsical, Faded, Heartstrings, Seasons.
1. Prologue

**a/n: **I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender! Anyway, this is my first time actually doing all the Zutara Week themes. The prologue is the only chapter that won't follow a theme and if it confuses/ you don't get it, watch "The Crossroads of Destiny" again because that's basically what it is but modified for my story.

**Prologue**

Zuko and Katara were imprisoned in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se for the whole night and most of the next morning. When they awoke they continued to talk and Katara offered to heal Zuko's scar with the water from the Spirit Oasis.  
"There, it's practically gone."

"Thank you, Katara." He leaned towards her instead of backing away, she didn't back away either. Zuko stared as her startling blue eyes widened before closing and he closed his. Their lips met and they shared a soft kiss before they were interrupted.

"Katara?"

"Zuko."

Both voices, though nothing alike reflected heartbreak and hints of anger. "Oh, dear. This is... interesting." A slightly amused uncle Iroh said. Mai glared at Katara as she stared at Aang in confusion. Zuko sheepishly stared at the ground as Iroh hugged him and Aang glared at him.

Katara and Aang went to help Toph and Sokka.

"I thought you'd changed."

"I have changed."

Aang let go of Katara, unlocking the seventh chakra, just as Azula shot him.

"Aang!"

Light blazed.

**"Air! **Air rushed past everybody in the room, choking them for a few moments. It hit and surrounded Aang and only when it had stopped were they able to breathe again.

**"Fire! **Iroh, Zuko, and Azula began screaming in pain as flames escaped their bodiesrushing towards the unconscious avatar. Iroh and Zuko fell to their knees, Azula dropped to one. "Zuko!" Mai and Katara yelled. Mai glared at Katara but ran to Zuko's side.

**"Earth!" **The Dai Li benders flinched simultaneously before going to aid Azula and Zuko and detain Iroh. Mai helped Zuko to his feet. "Katara," he murmured just as the loud echoing voice began to say the last of the four elements.

**"Water!" **Katara's agonized screams filled the air as Zuko and Azula escaped. Iroh stared at Zuko the whole way. Zuko hung his head, though from pain or shame , Iroh could not tell.


	2. Serendipity

******a/n: **I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender! Anyway, this is my first time actually doing all the Zutara Week themes. Serendipity is the first theme and while the way I did it is kind of obvious it still fits and it works for the next one.

**Serendipity:**_  
Discovering something nice while in search of something else _

"That's the girl Zuko kissed," Mai said, anger and resentment underlying her usual blank tone.

Azula grinned. ""She can't remember a thing. The spirit in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se took our strength in order to heal the avatar's body, you saw what it did to Zuko, Iroh, and me, three strong firebenders. Imagine what it must have done to a single waterbender. Not to mention we escaped before the spirit finished healing the kid. The poor thing," Azula finished sarcastically, putting an arm around the girl's shoulder.

Mai took in the darker girl's blank blue eyes and disheveled brown hair. She waved her hand in front of the girl's face, but she showed no reaction. "Is she even there?" she asked.

"No," Azula said in an almost convincingly sad tone. Then chipperly added, "She cantake orders though, she's like a well-trained dog, watch. Katara, go get me a glass of water, I'm thirsty."

_Katara_Anger glimmered in Mai's eyes for a split second as Zuko's voice floated into her mind. One night and he'd become more concerned with her welfare than his own. She watched Katara as she murmured, "Yes, Lady Azula" and left the room. Mai narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Why did you bring her here, Azula?"

"Please. Why do you always suspect me? She's like a well-trained dog, but what if she recovers her memory? Or if Zuko sees her? I can't trust them. I **can**trust you."

"To do what?"

"Watch her for me. If she shows any sign of her memory returning, have your uncle throw her in jail."

Mai watched Katara walk in and hold a glass of water out to Azula."And if she never recovers?"

"Her bending will. I'm sure of it."

Mai said nothing but watched Katara, on Azula's orders, struggle to bend even the smallest amount of water from the glass. After a few seconds , Azula got bored and sighed, "Oh, come on, Mai. You could own the bitch who tried to take zuko from you. Think of it as irony, poetic justice, a gift..."

"A gift?"

"Of course, a present from me to you as thanks for being such a trustworthy friend."

Mai sighed, "Fine."

"Great," Azula smiled. "Katara, you are now Mai's personal assistant." Mai watched shocked as Azula hugged Katara, "See? I told you I'd find you a job that will let you reach me no matter what."

"Yes, my lady." Katara said as, for the first time since entering Mai's room she showed emotion by smiling warmly and hugging Azula back.

**2 MONTHS LATER**  
_"Sorry, I like Mai."_

Azula screamed angrily as the words replayed in her , her boyfriend of four months had used those exact words to dump her.

He **dumped**her, for Mai!

Dumped **her**!The nerve! Angrily, Azula stomped towards Mai's bedroom. As she neared it, however, Katara ran out of the room looking terrified.

"Stop," Azula ordered.

"Lady Azula!" Katara exclaimed.

"What's going on?"

""I don't know. Mistress Mai was gone yesterday and only returned late this morning, but when she came back she was furious! She threatened to torture me if I didn't leave immediately."

_"That's the girl Zuko kissed"_ Azula remembered Mai's words upon first seeing Katara two months ago and, unseen by Katara, smirked, _Perfect_.

"You know how stoic Mai is, Katara. When she shows emotions it's inevitably extreme."

After playing the role a caring friend to the clueless Katara, Azula went to comfort Mai, plotting all the way.

"I went all the way with Zuko after the party last night and this morning, when I got up, you know what he said?! 'Katara, don't leave yet.' He was dreaming about **Katara!**Almost a year since they spent a night together and after sex with me, he dreams about Katara!"

**LATE THAT NIGHT**  
_"You really should apologize to Mai, you know."_Azula had said and so here he was, at the secret door to a hidden passage that led to his angry girlfriend's room. Zuko sighed before knocking twice on the door. One of Mai's servants opened the door.

_"That waterbending girl?! You spent less than a day with her, but after our first night together a year later you dream of __**her?!**__"_

"Her eyes,"Zuko had almost said before reminding himself that if probably wasn't a good excuse.

It was, however, a good excuse for why he was suddenly paralyzed. "K-K-Katara?"

The brown-haired girl in the uniform of all of Mai's household's servants closed and opened her startling blue eyes in a confused blink.

Zuko chastised himself both for imagining things but also for doubting it was Katara when she replied, "Prince Zuko?


	3. Momentuous

******a/n:** I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender! Anyway, this is my first time actually doing all the Zutara Week themes. Momentuous was written/planned out about 100 different times, I like how it came out though. In the same way that Zuko's decision will affect the plot, this chapter set the course for the rest of the chapters as well.

**Momentuous**_:__  
__An event of great importance or consequence, especially when considering the future._

"It **is** you," Zuko barely breathed before staring mutely at her. Then, without thinking he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his body as tightly as he could. "I'm so sorry," he said. Everything in him wanted to tell her not only how sorry he was but also how worried he'd been and how much he'd **missed**her, but all other words were beyond him.

"Prince Zuko," Katara said again, the confusion in her voice now gone. He could hear in her voice that she was going to protest the hug but before he could summon the words to stop her she said, "I don't think I'm the best person to rehearse your apology to Mistress Mai with."

_Mistress Mai_. The obvious respect and admiration in Katara's voice when she said "Mistress Mai" brought Zuko back to his senses. Why was Katara in the uniform of Mai's household servants? Where were the sadness and pain that never left her eyes? Or the indignation and anger he knew she would express if she thought he was using her? He'd only spent one night with her in which they weren't each other's enemy but he'd learned a lot about her. This wasn't her. _But it __**is**__. It __**is **__her, what happened?_

He held her at arms' length. "Katara, what are you talking about? Why 'Mistress Mai'? How long have you been here?" He moved his hands to cup her face, all his emotions rising back up to him, his voice rising with them. "Katara, I haven't spent a waking moment **not**thinking about you for the past eight months!Why are you here?! How did you escape the Avatar-"

"Zuko!"

Zuko's eyes snapped to Azula standing at the bottom of the steps from Mai's room next to a stony faced, but trembling, silent Mai. He moved to stand in front of the now pale Katara, shielding her with his body. "Azula, what's going on here?" he asked angrily.

Amusedly, Azula's eyes flitted to Katara's face before returning to his. "That's what I'd like to know."

"Katara," Mai said quietly. "Go wait in my room."

Zuko could feel the fear emanating from Katara as though it were another living person, he expected her to protest but instead felt her move to do as she was told. "No," he said, grabbing her wrist to keep her behind him. "I want an explanation to all of this. I want answers. Now!"

"Mistress Mai," Katara began. Mai's gaze, however, was locked on Zuko and it was Azula who answered her.

"Katara, its time we cleared things up, but we need to resolve this knot first. Go get your things, then go to my rooms. You know which one you stayed in. Go to bed and we'll talk in the morning."

Zuko eyed Azula, suspicion rising in him even more at hearing her uncharacteristic gentle tone. Katara, to his surprise, seemed to sag with relief. With a quiet "Yes, m'lady," she slipped free of his grasp and before he knew it was up the stairs and gone.

"What is going on here?!" he yelled.

"Lower your voice," Azula said sharply.

Zuko angrily opened his mouth to reply, but Mai said, "Control yourself. Haven't you insulted me enough today without completely losing your head in your rush to know why you were with me instead of her all this time?"

Zuko shut his mouth, swallowed, then quietly said, "Start talking."

**HOURS LATER, MAI'S BEDROOM**  
"So let me get this straight, you've been hiding Katara for the past five months so that the Avatar and his friends don't find her. But now that I've found out you want her help in hunting down the Avatar?"

"Yes," a bored Azula replied, examining her fingernails.

"Did you know about this?" Zuko asked Mai.

"Why would I?"

"What if I don't agree?" he asked Azula.

"Why wouldn't you? If you stick to our story you keep her and the Fire Nation. If you don't you'll only confuse and lose her, she's loyal to **me**."

Zuko looked to Mai again. "Don't look at me," she said, looking away."She's just a servant."


	4. Transcend

_****_**a/n: **I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender! Anyway, this is my first time actually doing all the Zutara Week themes. Irony hates me. Transcend is the chapter in which ironically no matter how hard I tried I could not transcend past my writer's block Dx. Hopefully this will not define the rest of the story. See, what happened with this long chapter is I had the ideas for it, but no idea on how to string the ideas together. So here you go a choppy list of ideas hopefully with the resemblance of a good chapter :)

_**Trans****cend:  
**__To surpass a limit or achievement. To go beyond your limits._

"Katara," Zuko called. "We need to go! Now!" Katara shook herself before calling back that she'd be right there. _Honestly, who would have thought that **this** was in my future?_ she asked herself.  
"Finally," Zuko exhaled upon seeing her walk out of her room. "I was beginning to think you were having second thoughts." he said before wrapping her tightly in his arms. Katara felt her heartbeat speed up and was about to answer when they were interrupted.  
"Zuko!" Azula said sharply as she walked into the hall. "What are you doing?" Mai and Ty Lee walked quietly behind her, Mai had her usual bored expression but Ty Lee could see her aura and kept glancing between Zuko and Katara's now interlaced fingers and Mai who was looking everywhere but.  
Before Zuko could stammer a reply Azula had pulled Katara away from him and cooed, "Poor, poor Zuzu," resting her head on Katara's shoulder. "Tara looks so gorgeous you can't resist, but she doesn't remember you!" Katara's blush deepened as Azula's voice took on a mockingly scolding voice. "Bad Zuzu, you assaulted her!"  
"It was just a hug," Zuko muttered in half annoyance and half embarrassment at acting as though he and Katara really had been together before the "incident." They hadn't been, and even though the feelings he'd developed for her in the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se made up for that enough especially if she had felt the same way before his betrayal, they were no reason for him to behave as if they'd been "hopelessly in love" as Azula was now apologetically telling Katara they had been. She shot him a glance over her shoulder. In it he could read a warning, amusement and something else. Curiosity, maybe? A question? Zuko shook his head when she looked away. _She's up to something_

**SOMEWHERE NEARBY**  
"We need costumes!" Suki declared, glancing at Sokka. She sighed when the excitement in his eyes only glimmered before dying. _At least it's there,_she told herself. This suppressed excitement was a million times better than the absolute blankness of the past few months since he'd come to face the fact that it had not been Aang's fault that his baby sister was dead. Now that there was a possibility that Katara might actually be alive, the only thing that kept his excitement from returning was his wariness. Suki had taken his place as the person who came up with crazy ideas in order to cheer him up and return him to a semblance of his old self, but everything had failed. This excitement, she knew, had nothing to do with her efforts, but she wasn't bothered by the fact that he was purposely refusing to cheer up, despite her efforts. How could she blame him for not wanting to get his hopes up?  
Aang, on the other hand, had no problems getting his hopes up. It had taken him almost as long as Sokka to realize that whatever had happened to Katara was not his fault. Eventually, this was what completed Sokka's shut-down, but Suki was glad to see that the Avatar no longer feared his own emotions.

**FIRE NATION**  
Katara shook nervously behind the curtains. From what she could see, Zuko, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee and herself were the only teenagers there and she was the only one clearly not from the Fire Nation. Zuko had been extremely worried the past month; from what she understood, Ozai was wary of anyone who wasn't of Fire Nation descent and would be hard-pressed to accept Katara into his ranks. No matter how much his son cared for her. It was all thanks to Azula that Katara had been allowed to stay in the palace with them as the foreign royalty she was.  
_Royalty,_ Katara repeated in her head. Despite her progress in waterbending, the ease with which she learned or, as Azula insisted, **re-learned** all the lessons a princess should know and special classes that Water Tribe royalty should know, and her now obvious relationship with Fire Nation elites, she had trouble accepting that the word applied to her. How could she be **royalty**? Just a month ago, she'd been doing laundry, cooking and other chores as if house chores were something she'd done every day of her life. Then again, all she really knew of her life began with extreme pain and ended with the moment she was in now. About to be announced to the Fire Nation as Zuko's fiancee and...

"Katara, we're next..." Zuko stated blankly, breaking her out of her reverie. She blinked quickly and looked around to realize that they were indeed next seeing as Ty Lee was the only other teenager left behind them. She gulped before looking at Zuko's blank expression.

Teasingly, she asked, "Are you having second thoughts?" Zuko smiled sadly at her and in her nervousness and desire to get rid of the sadness, she continued, "I loved you before didn't I?"

"You only believe that because Azula told you..." Zuko said, resigned. He thought he loved Katara but he wasn't sure he wanted to marry her like this. Robbed of her memories and thinking she loved him because Azula told her she did.  
"Zuko," Katara said, cupping his face." I may not remember everything, but every time you get close to me or hug me or even if you just touch my hair, my heart rate speeds up. I get butterflies when I think about us being married and just seeing you every day makes me so happy I feel like I may never stop smiling.  
"I may not remember loving you or all the little things that you do or don't like or why I loved you in the first place. All I know is that I love you now." Katara went on tip toes to kiss him but Zuko sadly looked away. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "Have I really changed so much, Zuko? Can you not love me anymore?"  
Ty Lee approached them, "I don't want to spoil the moment, but I can see your aura Zuko. You're hurting, let your guilt go."  
"Guilt? Zuko, I'm safe. Azula saved me. I'm here now." Katara reached up to turn his face to hers, he could see the sincerity and love in her eyes as clearly as she could see the battle raging between his emotions in his. "I love you. When I first saw you, my heart skipped a beat. When Azula told me I'd been in love with you, I assumed that was why. I didn't assume I still loved you. I love you now because I've fallen for you this past month. Can you not say the same?"  
"And to rule over the Water Tribes, my son, Prince Zuko and his newly betrothed, Lady Katara of the Water Tribes! For who better understands that element, so unlike ours, yet holds true to our values , than a couple that physically embodies the union of both?" No sooner had Ozai finished his last sentence than the entire audience of Fire Nation burst into applause.  
Aang, Sokka, and Suki stared, shocked as a happy Katara walked next to a solemn Zuko, a small hint of a smile on his face. He looked so relaxed, as if everything were going his way. Aang fought to reign in his anger. To save Katara, he'd let her go in order to control the Avatar State. He'd been getting into it, when there was an extreme pain on his back and then he'd blacked out. He'd woken up alone, completely healed, and surrounded by the Dai Li. An Earth Kingdom official had stepped up and shackled him, "Avatar Aang, you are under arrest for the murder of Katara of the Water Tribes."  
Yet now it turned out Zuko had had her all this time. He had not spent long in jail for he was the Avatar and as Toph had pointed out, still a mere child who did not control the protective instincts of an Avatar Spirit that had lived thousands of lives. However, the past nine months he and his group, especially Sokka, had been struggling with the loss of Katara.  
Zuko, on the other hand was apparently getting everything he wanted. How had he restored his honor without capturing Aang? How long had he wanted Katara? It wasn't fair, Aang had been forced to let go of his feelings for Katara, but not the memory of them, in order to control the Avatar State. Zuko had somehow restored his honor without capturing the Avatar and now he had Katara.  
"Fire Lord Ozai is such a wise man," Suki heard an old man say proudly. "Look at that bow! Almost as perfect as Princess Azula herself!"  
"Yes," the old woman next to him, whom Suki assumed to be his wife, agreed. Suki watched as Katara and Zuko simultaneously straightened out of an equally perfect Fire Nation bow and accepted the blue scroll Ozai was handing them.  
"Thank you, Father," Zuko said before he and Katara used their hands to once more make a flame and bow to the Fire Lord.  
"Such a good Father, too," the old woman continued. "He not only restored his son's proper place by his side, but he also engaged him to such a beautiful, proper, girl."  
"His banishment may have been a good thing too, for he seems to be accepting of other cultures, just like the Fire Lord." _The Fire Lord?!Accepting?! He plans on taking over the whole world! How is that accepting?!_ Suki wanted to yell but instead kept listening. "I do believe that necklace she's wearing contains the three fire stones. "  
"The fire stones?" his wife exclaimed. "But why in a necklace?"  
"I have heard that in the Water Tribes a necklace is used for a betrothal"  
"And she accepted it! What a perfect willingness to embrace both cultures! Fire Lord Ozai is indeed wise."  
Suki didn't like how things were sounding. Katara accepted? It sounded as though she'd had a choice! She went back to the group to tell them, maybe Katara didn't need rescuing. Maybe she was an enemy.  
They all shot the idea down, to Suki's relief and simultaneous discomfort. She and the rest of the group watched as the Fire Nation celebrated and her discomfort grew Katara did not seem to be a prisoner.  
Toph refused to agree or disagree with Aang and Sokka's theories that Katara was being blackmailed or that she'd been brainwashed. She could not see Katara but she could sense Suki's discomfort. Still, she agreed that they needed to kidnap Katara and if she really was Katara, not some fake, Toph resolved that she would be the one to decide wether or not Katara had indeed betrayed them.

Katara laughed and spent the whole night having fun and remembering the absolute sincerity with which Zuko had looked her in the eyes and said, "I love you, Katara. Never doubt it, no matter what"  
She reflected on the past month in which she'd done everything to become the person she was supposed to be, but had fought against falling for Zuko yet done it anyway.  
_Hmm,_ she mused. _Maybe if I try my hardest to suck at waterbending, I'll be able to do it again._  
She chuckled, falling for Zuko hadn't been something she could help. She couldn't control how her body reacted to him and she couldn't blame him for trying to move on when he'd thought her dead. Falling for Zuko seemed like the best thing she could have done. Her thoughts grew serious. If she could not recover her bending, would Fire Lord Ozai take her from Zuko's side?  
_**No,**_She thought to herself approaching a fountain. She may not remember her past feelings for Zuko, but what she felt now was real enough to her. "Katara?" Zuko called, approaching her and leaving their group.  
"Is something wrong?" he asked. She looked up at him as he approached, his eyes widened as he saw her eyes filled with tears. She looked back at the water in the fountain and tried to bend it. She only succeeded in raising a few small water whips inches from the rest of the water. Before she could let them drop, however, three things happened at once.

"Now's our chance," Aang said watching Katara stray behind the rest of the group of teenagers. By this time there was barely anybody left in the streets and he knew that if they didn't try to rescue Katara now, she'd be back in the palace with all those guards and they would have missed their chance. Zuko would keep Katara. He would have everything he wanted and the one thing Aang had wanted.  
Suki watched Sokka's eyes narrow and looked up to see Zuko walking towards Katara. Toph could feel how Sokka's heart rate quickened in anticipation and shared Suki's evident joy in the fact that he was finally feeling **something**. Aang's reaction on the other hand angered her. _You let her go, you stupid monk! Stop pining over memories and feelings that no longer exist!_ Sokka's reasons for being so desperate to save Katara were completely understandable. Suki's and her own reasons were the same they wanted both Katara and the old Sokka back. Aang's reasons however, were childish. As though he were saying, "I don't want her anymore, but that doesn't mean you can have her." Toph's anger began to turn her thoughts from Katara's rescue to Aang's demise when she felt the group tense up.  
Suki's heart soared as she saw Katara raise water whips from the fountain. She was fighting Zuko! She **hadn't** betrayed them!

"Now!" Sokka called.  
Toph raised a wall that encircled the area around the fountain.  
Zuko, as though a giant had picked him up, was thrown against the fountain so hard he would have bounced off, if not for the invisible force of Aang's airbending keeping him up against it.

Toph smirked and felt the same surge of victory as the rest of her team. But it vanished in less than a second. Something was not right.  
Katara screamed and ran to stand in front of Zuko.  
Fear. That was what was pulsing through Katara's shaking body. _What is going on?_Toph thought and was sure the rest of her team was thinking as well. Except Sokka, who stood at the front of the group.  
"Katara,"he said coldly. "Is that you?"  
Suki's heart pounded. His tone of voice should not have been the cause for understanding to dawn on Katara's face. Something was terribly wrong._He doesn't think its her, but it is! It is!_ She prepared to hold Sokka back instead of to attack Zuko whose expression she could not determine. He seemed unsure of what was about to happen. _They were right, she's been brainwashed._ Suki thought, for there had been no recognition in Katara's gaze.  
"You're Sokka." Katara replied in an equally cold voice.  
"What have you done to her?!" Aang and Sokka asked simultaneously. The threat in Sokka's voice unheard over Aang's scream.  
"Avatar." Katara growled her hands moved so quickly they were a blur, her gaze momentarily diverted from Sokka. Suki gasped and Aang so narrowly avoided killed by the two daggers she'd thrown at him that his concentration broke and the air keeping Zuko suspended against the top of the fountain fell. His curse as he fell had Katara turning to look. "Zuko!" She screamed and bent enough water to slow his landing but like always, the water only lasted moments before she lost control over it.  
"She can't bend!" Suki called and as soon as Zuko landed Sokka ran to him sword drawn.  
Katara was faster than him though. She shot Suki a glare and flipped to stand between Zuko and her brother. She bent the water to push him away but before she could freeze it the water fell to the ground again. "Maybe not," she said to Sokka. "But now I can fight you in other ways, **big brother**. I won't run this time and you won't kill me. Or Zuko." By now, Zuko was on his feet and in a fighting stance.  
"What have you done with my little sister?"  
Toph could feel Katara's determination and Zuko's guilt as he said. "I haven't done anything to her."  
Complete honesty. Toph was shocked and Aang yelled again. "Stop lying! Katara, he's brainwashed you! Ty Lee must have blocked your chi in order to take away your bending! Please, you have to remember!"  
"Remember **what**, Avatar?" Katara snarled.  
"Sokka's your brother, Suki, Toph and I are your friends. We're here to rescue you. Katara," Aang pleaded, taking a step forward. "I thought I killed you back in Ba Sing Se. You have no idea what that did to us, to Sokka, to **me**. And now we find out you're alive-"  
"You've come to finish the job." Katara stated blankly. She took a step towards the Avatar. Zuko tried to hold her back but was stopped by Sokka's sword. He wanted to explain, but he didn't want to lose Katara and even if he explained, he doubted he would be believed.  
Aang stared confused as Katara came up to him. "Give it up Avatar. Even before Azula and Zuko explained things to me the extreme pain you caused me kept me in a state of semi-consciousness and though I remember nothing from before that moment, it is**your** body I see my chi rushing to. **Your** tattoos are the ones burned into the only memories I have from before I was found. You didn't take completely take yourself from my memories. So don't think for a second that bringing my brother here will make me believe that I was on your side because those memories are proof enough that you tried to kill me."  
"Katara, I..."Aang struggled to find words but Toph interrupted.  
"We don't have time! Azula and those other girls are about to make it to the top of my wall!"  
"Sokka!" Suki called and ran towards him. Her movement caught Sokka's attention and he looked just in time to see the daggers flying for his head. He grabbed Zuko and used him as a shield then put his sword at his throat and used him as a hostage.  
"Zuko!" Katara screamed and turned to help him but Aang grabbed and pulled her back. "Let go of me!"  
"No, trust me,"Aang said. "You don't belong here." he blew the whistle for Appa then and he held her tightly as the fighting began.  
Ty Lee struggled to hit Toph and block her chi but Toph could predict her movements,though Ty Lee moved too quickly for Toph to trap her with the Earth.  
Suki continuously blocked Mai's weapons with her fans but could not drop her defense long enough to attack and Mai tried constantly to hit her target but was concentrating too hard on keeping Suki at a distance to do anything more complicated than shoot straight and fast.  
Azula on the other hand seemed to be having fun. She shot lightning from both hands at Aang and Sokka trying to get them to release their hostages but neither would.  
The air wooshed as Appa landed on the top the wall. Toph yelled, "Retreat!" and bent an earth pillar underneath Sokka and Zuko, Suki, and Aang and Katara. Zuko with a sword at his throat and guilt on his face was not putting up much of a struggle but Katara had put up enough of one that Aang had used Earth to bind her ankles and wrists together. Suki and Toph climbed on Appa and Aang shot himself and Katara up into the air, landing lightly on the bison's head. "Sokka, why is he on here?" Aang asked resentfully as Appa began to fly.  
"My bad," Sokka said blankly. He walked with Zuko to Appa's side and said, "Don't worry, Bastard Prince. I'm sure they'll catch you" before pushing him off.  
Zuko screamed as he fell towards the fountain and Suki yelled at a blank faced Sokka. Toph's anger grew to dangerous levels both with Sokka and Aang who felt increasingly guilty but all of this gave way to shock as Katara, who had been released when Appa lifted screamed "No! Zuko!"  
Toph was completely blind to the situation almost went deaf at the sound of rushing water. Katara had raised her arms and with it all the water of the fountains has come rushing up, as if they were geysers and then she'd jumped.  
"Katara!" Zuko cried as she began to fall and the water pushes him up. He caught her arm and pulled her close but she pulled slightly away and he saw a ribbon of water begin to spin around them, pulling them down until they were in the basin of the fountain.  
"Let it go, Aang" Sokka said blankly as Aang struggled to get Appa to go back. "That's not my sister anymore. She's the enemy."  
"We'll get her next time" Aang swore, but Sokka had already gone back to Suki. He hid his face in her shoulder as she hugged him tightly. He wept silently. His baby sister was dead. Even if in time, she realized how wrong the Fire Nation was, even if she came to fight with them, she'd never be the same. She may as well be dead.  
"Zuko," Katara said quietly when the water had finally settled. "I did it! I can waterbend again!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried happy tears. She had gotten over her waterbending block in order to save Zuko's life. Zuko didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Yes, everything was going perfectly but he'd seen Sokka's face. If things were switched, if Katara had been his from the beginning and his enemy when he found her after a year of thinking her dead, he didn't think he could even keep the composure Sokka had. He rejoiced however, pushing those thoughts away. Katara was here, on his arms, celebrating her accomplishment. He picked her up and spun her around congratulating her. Those thoughts were only to be contemplated when she wasn't around. When Azula wasn't watching for a sign he might break and tell his love the truth, because eventually he would have to, and that would be more dangerous than anything he'd ever done. If Azula knew, the danger would be greater for both Katara and himself.


	5. Whimsical

**a/n:** I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender! Anyway, this is my first time actually doing all the Zutara Week themes. Whimsical was hard . ALOT harder than I thought it would be so your result is this: a not very whimsical chapter that may or may not be replaced by one that is both more whimsical and transitions better from Transcend. Anyway, reviews would be IMMENSELY appreciated. I want to know what my readers think. I really really do.

**_Whimsical:_**

_To be playful or unpredictable especially in an appealing or amusing way_

"Look,Zuko, look!" Katara called to Zuko who'd been staring off into space. He shook his head and smiled getting up from his seat underneath a tree.  
"Katara," he said. "I don't think that's how you're supposed to feed turtle ducks." He laughed as he watched the turtle ducks stare at the crumbs Katara was "feeding" them.  
"But why not?" she asked, smiling. "Turtle ducks can sit at tables too...see?"  
Zuko looked at the turtle duck she was pointing at. So far it had been the first one to lean forward from the small amount of water Katara was bending to look like a chair and eat the crumbs in front of it. Katara's face lit up and she shifted slightly, bending more water to take the crumbs from the pile of crumbs next to her and replace the crumbs that had been eaten. This time the turtle duck ate them immediately and Zuko watched amazed as with a few quacks the other turtle ducks began to eat their crumbs. He chuckled and sitting down next to where Katara was standing, watched the turtle ducks' feast until one by one they squirmed out of their "chairs" and swam after their mother.  
Katara sighed and plopped down next to him, a small smile on her face. "So," he began, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Now that you've mastered your element and become a proper princess once again, your next mission is to civilize turtle ducks?"  
She laughed, "No, my prince, it is to take advantage of every moment and turning it into something joyful. I do not remember the time we spent together before last year's incident and the past few months have been nothing but classes and training. Now that my time is my own, I want to spend it with you."  
"Why with me?"  
"Because I love you."  
"Why do you love me?"  
"Because you're you." She turned to face him, a small smile on her face. She knew this game.  
"And who am I?" He asked her, a small smile on his face. This was never a game, but she didn't need to know that.  
"You're Zuko, my love. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Future husband of me."  
He laughed, "You? Why should I marry you?"  
"Because you love me, silly prince."  
"Oh, and I suppose that is simply because you're you?"  
"Yes."  
"Who are you, my love?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure, but dismissed it.  
"_She is Katara, you idiot!_" Zuko frowned at down at her mischievous expression and looked back at the figure. He stared.  
Katara giggled, "**Master Waterbender **Katara," she said in a mockingly admonishing tone.  
"_Yes, please forgive me, Master Waterbender Katara_." The figure mouthed and Katara said in a disturbingly familiar voice before resuming and even more familiar tone. "_She is Master Waterbender Katara of the Southern Water Tribe and your future bride!_"  
"Katara...what is this?"  
"Don't be rude, love, you should say 'who'?"  
"Fine, **who** is this?"  
"_I am Crown Prince of the Fire Nation Zuko! Don't you ever forget that!_"  
"Wh-Katara, this isn't funny. I don't look like that."  
She giggled, "No, but you used to. I saw a picture from a few years ago." She froze the figure and shifted to a regular position. "Zula said you were a very angry individual before you and I met."  
"Did she now?"  
"Yes, oh no...he's melting. I guess you're fire through and through love, even the ice can't hold your resemblance for long." She sighed and her eyes filled with emotions that Zuko couldn't place. She shook her head as though to clear them and smiled up at him with love and trust in her eyes. She stood on tiptoe and gently kissed his lips. "I am Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and I'm yours to love or leave behind."  
"Katara!" Both heads turned to Ty Lee's voice. "We're going to spar! Do you want to come, too?"  
"I'll be right there!" Katara called back, she hugged Zuko and giggled,"He kind of looks like a pirate now. Scary, but you'll save me right?"  
"Yes," he said quietly and kissed her back when she gently pressed her lips to his again. She ran off to join Ty Lee, Mai and Azula. He turned to face the ice sculpture of his old self. The Zuko that Katara should remember looked like this. His angry face, the uniform and the lack of hair. The only thing that Katara's sculpture didn't have from that Zuko was the scar she'd healed.  
Then he'd betrayed deserved that scar, and the sun, it seemed was working to remind him. He covered the now smooth skin that had once been his scar and followed Katara's form as she walked further and further away. He looked at Mai and Azula's forms and then back at the sculpture. He looked back at Katara and watched until the four girls turned a corner and were out of sight, then he finished melting the sculpture. "Yes, I'll save you from the pirates."


End file.
